Home to the former Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, Rainier Oregon is coincidentally also the current place of residence for today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe mutant AMC Pacer. The connection is obvious, but will this AMC's price nuke the deal?

Aesthetics are important. As much as anyone would aver to not being so shallow, we generally gravitate to that which is most easiest on the eyes. And that's why yesterday's custom 1983 VW Rabbit Convertible went down in a 72% Crack Pipe loss, its freaky paint job and Burberry upholstery dry heaving their way over an appreciably hot motor, BBS wheels, and an overall appearance of competent construction. Hopefully today's candidate won't suffer from hate at first sight as well.

You know what they say about feast and famine, here we haven't had a good AMC Pacer on the show in a long time and then we have a tidy V8 wagon just a week ago, and now today's 1978 custom Paceranchero.

The idea of a Pacer pickup isn't the lone brain fart of this vehicle's creator, and in fact goes back to Kansas Kustomizer Carl Greene who first approached AMC VP of Design, Dick Teague with the idea.

This 232-powered pickup started out - like Greene's original - as a Pacer wagon. The back of the fishbowl above the lights and behind the B-pillar has been cut out, replaced by a rounded cap that flows gracefully into the fenders. Into that is what looks like the rear glass out of a later Gremlin or Spirit Kammback, but lacking the necessary hinge mounts.

Underneath the rotund redhead are a set of gold and chrome wheels while up top there's a pair of comically tiny roof rails for the comically shortened roof. There are no interior shots nor description so we'll just have to assume that it's all Pacer in there, just less of it. It's also hard to tell if the remaining portion of the hatch now works as a drop-down tailgate, or simply serves as a mechanism for building upper body strength - ooh, did you see the pecs on that guy? No, I was too busy checking out his wicked cool Pacer pickup!

The dearth of information provided in the ad is balanced by the audacity, and apparent quality, of the conversion this Pacer has undergone to open-bed form. Sure, the six cylinder with its double digit horsepower and succubus-like three speed are a combo no one likes to see on the menu, but remember that a V8 will fit under this fatty's hood, and that the Pacer was originally designed with a Wankel in mind.

What it's now time for you to have in mind is this custom Pacer's $3,000 price tag. That's a third that of last week's restored wagon, and of course this is miles funkier. What do you think about that price, is three grand a fair deal to pick up this custom pickup? Or, is that price well off the pace-r?